Dry Rot and Damp

misspiggy87

Hello MoneySavers,

Apologies - this is quite a long story!
My house has dry rot and damp. I've had 3 different firms in to have a look and they've pretty much all said the same thing. Just waiting on one more quote to come back. For the rising damp on the ground floor they will hack off the plaster to 1.5m high and inject a DPC. The dry rot is around the skirting on the first floor. They propose to chop out the plaster and timbers to 1m beyond the rot, spray with a fungicide and replace timbers.
My questions:
1. The house has been treated for dry rot by the previous owner and Peter Cox. I'm trying to act upon the guarantees provided but I haven't heard many success stories. Are they worth the paper they're written on? I don't think the source of the rot has been tackled. Also, the affected timbers were only cut back to less than 0.5m.
2. My house was built in 1887 but the front is rendered. There is a teeny tiny hairline crack in the render - could this be the source of the moisture? The render was only put on 3 years ago - could this be classified as faulty under the terms of my home insurance or do I have any comeback with the company who carried out the rendering? Is it advisable to just get all of the render removed?
3. The rot goes right up to the party wall. I've spoken to my neighbour and she says it all looks fine in her house but just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there! I'm worried that I do get the work done and the rot comes back through from her house. Also, am I liable for any repairs to her house in the first instance?
4. There is a major discrepancy in the two quotes I have received: £8000 and £4600. The provider of the £8000 quote is independent, seems very professional and provides guarantees. The cheaper one didn't really seem to do much in the way of paperwork and I assume does not offer a guarantee so I've ruled him out. Is this the premium I need to pay just to cover my back?? The cheaper guy also mentioned either a concrete method or plastic with boarding on top? Can anyone elaborate on this?

Well....I think that's it!
Any insight would be gratefully received!

SG27

If there is rot on the first floor there must be damp getting in there too from somewhere. Is the roof and guttering in good condition? Could this be causing the "rising damp" on the ground floor too?
Is the render concrete? If so this could be trapping moisture.
I'm not a fan of chemical DPCs in fact I don't believe they work!
Maybe try getting a quote from a specialist period property company they may give an alternative way of looking at things.

misspiggy87

Yes. I think the render is concrete and the hairline crack is on the first floor in the same place as the rot. The roof and guttering seem to be in good condition.
On the ground floor the rising damp is right down at floor level and doesn't go any higher than about half a metre. One of the quotes is from a specialist period property company - I assume this is why he is so expensive but with things like this it's always better to have an expert.

brooklyn07

before you go any further have a read of this website first...


I came across it the other day whilst trying to solve my own problems I'm having with damp... might save you a fortune!

They specifically mention the perils of hacking off plaster where the "damp" is on one of the pages..


http://www.heritage-house.org/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html


don't just read that one page - read the whole site....

MisterBaxter

I made this comment on another thread but I would always be wary of taking damp & timber advice from a company that do damp and timber treatment works. It may be me being cynical but I can't see how their advice can be independent and impartial when they stand to profit from finding issues and undertaking remedial works to remedy the issues they find.

It may cost a little more initially but I would rather use a surveyor without any contractor connections to undertake the survey and then bring in a company to carry out any work recommended by the surveyor. A good surveyor will have their own third party indemnity insurance so if they get it wrong there is someone to go back to for a claim.

If the original work that was done came with an insurance backed guarantee then there should be a route to attempt a claim through the insurance company; if it was just a company guarantee then it will probably be more challenging. You could also see if your buildings insurance provides legal cover to assist in making a claim against the original contractor. If you go this route it may be difficult proving the contractor got it wrong.

You are likely to pay more for a company that offers a fully insurance backed warranty as there is a cost to providing the warranty; they are also likely to be much more thorough in the work they do as they don't want any claims (there is no assurance of this though). The problem with this is that they may actually end up doing more than is really needed just to be on the safe side which means more cost. If you do go with the company that offers full guarantees make sure that the guarantee is insurance backed and properly underwritten, if the contractor ceases trading the insurance company would still have to honor the guarantee. If the guarantee is just offered by the company and they cease trading the guarantee dies with them.

misspiggy87

Thanks for the website link, I do agree with some of it but a lot of the damp is on internal walls and so it can't be blamed on render/guttering/penetrating damp. The bit about the guarantees was interesting too.
I've discovered some old reports and guarantees for lots of work done by Peter Cox I imagine they'll be able to wriggle out of their responsibility for the external walls but surely not the internal walls?
They have also previously treated for dry rot but this is recurrent next to an external wall too so I'm not optimistic I'll be able to make the guarantee stick. After ripping the carpets back I've noticed that the floorboards have only been cut back 400mm - is this enough. The rule of thumb is 1m from the rot but what is the actual 'British Standard' or whatever?